"I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

Two nights ago (Wednesday, February 20, 2008), we were treated to a spectacular celestial show when a total lunar eclipse graced our skies. In addition, the eclipse provided a unique peak at Saturn and the bright star Regulus. I have always found basic astronomy very fascinating, so I was pretty excited about seeing at least part of the event. Without getting into detail, a lunar eclipse is when the Earth’s shadow crosses over part or all of the surface of the moon. This eclipse was a total eclipse because the shadow completely covered the moon.

When the event got started, we were able to see the beginning from inside our house. The slight threat of light snow showers never happened and the clouds were in the process of clearing away when the eclipse began. Shortly before the period of totality began, I decided to go outside. Damn, it was cold! I decided to sit in the minivan in the driveway! Before you knew it, I had turned our minivan into the DeVivo Celestial Observatory! First, I cranked the heat, both in front of me and from overhead and behind me. With a nice warm circulation going, I opened the sun roof. The heater kept the cold air out. Then, I reclined the driver’s seat back...Ahhh! Oh yeah, fire up the Pink Floyd albums - The Dark Side Of The Moon, Obscured By Clouds, The Division Bell! As I sat back, the moon was perfectly placed in the open sun roof!!! It was a sight to see (both the eclipse and me lounging in the DeVivo Celestial Observatory)!  Within minutes, the moon slipped into darkness, but didn’t completely disappear from sight. The light from the sun that passed through Earth’s atmosphere gave the moon a brownish or reddish glow. With the light from what was a full moon dimmed, the stars shone brightly..and there was Saturn! If you had a good telescope, you would have been able to see Saturn’s rings! I had to leave it up to my imagination and Pink Floyd to see the rings! At one point, I briefly turned on the news just in time to hear a bulletin announcing that the U.S. had in fact shot the missile towards the damaged satellite that was going to come crashing back to Earth in a couple of weeks. Just then, I saw a shooting star. I thought that was, well, cosmic! Shortly after that, came news of the possibility of a direct hit. With that, it was back to Pink Floyd. Just before 11PM, a tiny sliver of illuminated moon s-l-o-w-l-y started to appear. Totality was over in just under an hour.

All of this reminded me of, what I believe was, a total lunar eclipse in July 1982. I was 17 at the time. My Dad worked the night shift at the Department of Sanitation. That night, I went to work with him. He set me up on the roof with a recliner. I had my radio with me. As the moon slowly disappeared, the radio station I had on started playing Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon in it’s entirety! I had never heard the whole album before, as I was just getting into Pink Floyd, catching up on lost time. The soundtrack was perfect. My mind kept drifting off. Just a few nights earlier, I went on my first date with my first girlfriend. There was something there. We were going to hang out again that afternoon. It was a moment that has stayed with me.

Needless to say, I was flashing back a little the other night. Almost 26 years back. Anyway...it was after 11, the moon was coming back, Pink Floyd’s album The Division Bell was over and my wife came outside to see if I had fallen asleep!

 “There is no dark side of the moon, really. As a matter of fact, it’s all dark.”